Article aligning and supplying device, and article aligning and supplying method

Abstract

To provide an article aligning and supplying device which can enhance stability of operation of sending an article from an outlet chute, and supply capability of the article to a next process.SOLUTION: An article aligning and supplying device includes: a storage part for storing an article; a conveyance part that is erected so that a conveyance belt in which bars for aligning and mounting an article in a fixed direction are provided at predetermined intervals is moved upward from the storage part; a cover panel part which covers a surface provided with the bars of the conveyance belt moved upward in the conveyor part so as to be brought into close contact therewith and opposite thereto; an outlet chute which is arranged at a predetermined height position on one side of the conveyor part covered with the cover panel part; a first air spraying part which is provided at the height position of the outlet chute in the cover panel part, and sends the article on the bars to the outlet chute; an article detection part for detecting the article on the bars positioned at the height of the outlet chute; and a driving control part for controlling driving of the conveyance belt according to the detection state of the article on the bars by the article detection part.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to an article aligning and feeding device and an article aligning and feeding method, and more particularly to an article aligning and feeding device and method for aligning randomly stored articles in a predetermined state and feeding the articles. [Background technology]

[0002] 2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a filling system for beverages and the like, a cap aligning device has been used to align the caps of containers in a fixed direction and supply them to a filling machine in the next process.

[0003] Patent Document 1 listed below discloses this type of cap alignment device. FIG. 8 is a schematic external perspective view showing the cap alignment device disclosed in Patent Document 1. As shown in FIG. The cap alignment device 100 includes a hopper 101 into which the caps 1 are randomly thrown, a conveyor 104 having a transport belt 103 with rails 102 that rises vertically from within the hopper 101, and a cap injection unit 110 disposed so as to cover the upper portion of the conveyor 104. The cap injection unit 110 is connected to a chamber 112 via an exit chute 111.

[0004] According to the cap alignment device 100, caps 1 dropped into a hopper 101 are picked up onto the battens 102 of a conveyor belt 103, and only caps 1 in a specified orientation are selected and rise vertically. In the cap ejection section 110, air is blown to one side (in the direction of the arrow), and the caps 1 on the battens 102 are sent from an exit chute 111 to a chamber 112.

[0005] [Problem to be solved by the invention] In the conventional cap alignment device 100, the conveyor belt 103 is configured to be driven at a constant speed. A problem with such a cap alignment device 100 using a constant speed drive method will be described with reference to FIG.

[0006] As illustrated in Figure 9, when the conveyor belt 103 is driven at a constant speed by a constant speed motor 105, if a large number of caps 1 are continuously placed on the rails 102 with little space between them, it becomes difficult to send all of the caps 1 on the rails 102 to the exit chute 111, causing the caps 1 to overflow or become clogged at the exit chute 111, resulting in an unstable operation of sending out the caps 1. In addition, since the operating speed of the conveyor belt 103 is set to a constant speed so that a constant number of caps 1 can be sent out, if a state in which only a small number of caps 1 are placed on the crosspiece 102 continues, the amount of caps 1 supplied from the exit chute 111 to the chamber 112 (amount supplied per unit time) decreases, resulting in a problem of reduced supply capacity. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0007] [Patent Document 1] Patent No. 4917038 Summary of the Invention Means for solving the problem and their effects

[0008] The present invention has been made in consideration of the above-mentioned problems, and aims to provide an article aligning and supplying device and an article aligning and supplying method that can improve the stability of the operation of sending articles from an exit chute and the ability to supply articles to the next process.

[0009] In order to achieve the above object, the article aligning and feeding device (1) according to the present invention comprises: A storage section for storing an item; a conveyor section in which a conveyor belt having bars at predetermined intervals for aligning and placing the articles in a fixed orientation is erected so as to move upward from within the storage section; a cover panel portion provided to cover and face closely a surface of the upwardly moving conveyor belt on which the rails are provided; an exit chute disposed at a predetermined height on one side of the conveyor section covered by the cover panel section, a first air blowing section provided at a height position of the exit chute in the cover panel section, for sending the article on the rail into the exit chute; an object detection unit that detects the object on the rail located at the height of the exit chute; The apparatus further includes a drive control unit that controls the drive of the conveyor belt in accordance with a detection state of the object on the rail by the object detection unit.

[0010] According to the above-mentioned article aligning and supplying device (1), the first air blowing unit blows air to send the articles on the rail located at the height of the exit chute into the exit chute, and the article detection unit detects the articles on the rail located at the height of the exit chute. The drive control unit controls the drive of the conveyor belt according to the detection state of the articles on the rail by the article detection unit. Therefore, even if a state in which a large number of articles are loaded on the rail continues, the phenomenon in which the articles overflow or become clogged at the exit chute can be prevented by driving the conveyor belt in response to the detection state of the articles. Also, even if a state in which only a small number of articles are loaded on the rail continues, the phenomenon in which the amount of the articles supplied to the exit chute (amount supplied per unit time) decreases can be prevented by accelerating the driving of the conveyor belt in response to the detection state of the articles. Therefore, the stability of the operation of sending out the articles from the exit chute can be improved, and the ability to supply the articles to the next process can be increased.

[0011] The article aligning and supplying device (2) according to the present invention is the above-mentioned article aligning and supplying device (1), the object detection unit detects the presence or absence of the object on the rail located at the height of the exit chute, The drive control unit is characterized in that when the object detection unit detects that there is no object on the bar, it performs intermittent drive control to move the conveyor belt upward by the specified interval.

[0012] According to the above-mentioned item alignment and supply device (2), the first air blowing unit blows air to send items on the slat located at the height of the exit chute into the exit chute, and when the item detection unit detects that there is no item on the slat, the drive control unit controls the conveyor belt to move upward by the specified distance. Therefore, even if a large number of items remain loaded on the rail for a certain period of time, all of the items on the rail are sent to the exit chute, and by moving the conveyor belt upward by the specified distance when there are no items on the rail, it is possible to reliably prevent the items from overflowing or clogging the exit chute. Furthermore, even if there continues to be a state in which only a small number of items are placed on the bar, all of the items on the bar are sent to the exit chute, and the conveying belt is moved upward by the specified interval when there are no items on the bar. This shortens the period of intermittent driving of the conveying belt, and reliably prevents a decrease in the amount of items supplied to the exit chute (amount supplied per unit time). Therefore, the stability of the operation of sending out the articles from the outlet chute and the supply capacity of the articles can be more reliably improved.

[0013] Furthermore, the article alignment and supply device (3) of the present invention is characterized in that, in the above-mentioned article alignment and supply device (1) or (2), the article detection unit is arranged in a position opposite to the hole surface of the outlet chute.

[0014] According to the above-mentioned article alignment and supply device (3), since the article detection unit is disposed at a position facing the hole surface of the exit chute (the surface of the hole through which the article passes), it is possible to accurately detect the state in which all of the articles on the rail at the height position of the exit chute have been sent out from the exit chute. Therefore, it is possible to more reliably prevent the articles from overflowing or clogging the exit chute.

[0015] The article aligning and supplying device (4) according to the present invention is any one of the article aligning and supplying devices (1) to (3), The conveyor is characterized by having a second air blowing section at the specified height position on the other side of the conveyor section and / or at a position below the specified height position for moving the articles on the rail to one side of the conveyor section.

[0016] According to the above-mentioned article alignment and supply device (4), the second air blowing section makes it possible to shift the articles on the rail to one side of the conveyor section at the specified height position on the other side of the conveyor section and / or below the specified height position, thereby enabling the articles to be more smoothly discharged from the exit chute and further improving the supply capacity of the articles.

[0017] The article aligning and supplying method (1) according to the present invention is a method for aligning and supplying the articles using any one of the article aligning and supplying devices (1) to (4), comprising the steps of: an article detection step of detecting the article on the rail located at the height of the exit chute with the article detection unit; The method further includes a drive control step of controlling the drive of the conveyor belt in accordance with the state of detection of the object on the rail by the object detection step.

[0018] According to the above-mentioned article aligning and supplying method (1), the articles on the rail located at the height of the exit chute are sent to the exit chute by the air blowing action of the first air blowing unit, the articles on the rail located at the height of the exit chute are detected by the article detection process, and the drive control process controls the drive of the conveyor belt according to the detection state of the articles on the rail. Therefore, even if a state in which a large number of articles are loaded on the rail continues, the phenomenon in which the articles overflow or become clogged at the exit chute can be prevented by driving the conveyor belt in response to the detection state of the articles. Also, even if a state in which only a small number of articles are loaded on the rail continues, the phenomenon in which the amount of the articles supplied to the exit chute (amount supplied per unit time) decreases can be prevented by accelerating the driving of the conveyor belt in response to the detection state of the articles. Therefore, the stability of the operation of sending out the articles from the outlet chute can be improved, and the supply capacity of the articles can be increased.

[0019] The article alignment and supply method (2) according to the present invention is the above-mentioned article alignment and supply method (1), the object detection step is a step of detecting the presence or absence of the object on the rail located at the height of the exit chute by the object detection unit, The drive control process is characterized in that, when the object detection process detects that the object is not present on the rail, an intermittent drive control is performed to move the conveyor belt upward by the predetermined interval.

[0020] According to the above-mentioned item alignment and supply method (2), the items on the slat located at the height of the exit chute are sent to the exit chute by the air blowing action of the first air blowing section, and when the item detection process detects that there is no item on the slat, the drive control process performs intermittent drive control to move the conveyor belt upward by the specified interval. Therefore, even if a large number of items remain loaded on the rail for a certain period of time, all of the items on the rail are sent to the exit chute, and by moving the conveyor belt upward by the specified distance when there are no items on the rail, it is possible to reliably prevent the items from overflowing or clogging the exit chute. Furthermore, even if there continues to be a state in which only a small number of items are placed on the bar, all of the items on the bar are sent to the exit chute, and the conveying belt is moved upward by the specified interval when there are no items on the bar, thereby shortening the period of intermittent drive of the conveying belt and reliably preventing a decrease in the amount of items supplied to the exit chute. Therefore, the stability of the operation of sending out the articles from the outlet chute and the supply capacity of the articles can be more reliably improved. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0021] [Figure 1] 1 is a partially sectional side view showing a schematic view of a main part of an article aligning and supplying device according to an embodiment of the present invention; [Diagram 2] 1 is a partial front view showing a schematic view of a main part of an article aligning and supplying device according to an embodiment; [Diagram 3] 3 is a cross-sectional view of a main part taken along line III-III in FIG. 2. [Figure 4] 2 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a portion including a first air blowing section in FIG. 1. [Diagram 5] 1 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of a control system for an article aligning and supplying device according to an embodiment; [Figure 6] 6 is a flowchart showing an example of a processing operation performed by a drive control unit of the article aligning and supplying device according to the embodiment. [Figure 7] 1 is a partial front view showing one scene of an article supplying operation of the article aligning and supplying device according to an embodiment. FIG. [Figure 8] FIG. 11 is a schematic external perspective view showing a conventional cap alignment device. [Figure 9]1A and 1B are diagrams for explaining problems associated with a conventional cap alignment device. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0022] Hereinafter, the embodiments of the article aligning and supplying device and article aligning and supplying method according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Note that the embodiments described below are preferred specific examples of the present invention, and therefore various technically preferable limitations are applied, but the scope of the present invention is not limited to these embodiments unless otherwise specified in the following description to the effect that the present invention is limited.

[0023] Fig. 1 is a partially sectional side view showing a schematic view of the main part of an article aligning and supplying device according to an embodiment. Fig. 2 is a partially sectional view showing a schematic view of the main part of an article aligning and supplying device according to an embodiment. Fig. 3 is a partially sectional view of the main part taken along line III-III in Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is an enlarged partially sectional view including the first air blowing section in Fig. 1. For simplification, hatching of the cross sections of each part has been omitted in Figs. 1, 3 and 4.

[0024] The article aligning and supplying device 10 is an example of a device used in a filling system for beverages, foods, medicines, etc., to align container caps 1 in a fixed direction and supply them to a filling machine in the next process. In this embodiment, the cap 1 is an example of an article that is aligned and supplied by the article aligning and supplying device 10. The cap 1 has a disk-shaped top surface portion and a cylindrical side portion that extends from the outer periphery of the top surface portion in the central axial direction of the top surface portion.

[0025] The article alignment and supply device 10 includes a storage section 11 for storing caps 1, and a conveyor section 13 in which a conveyor belt 14 having bars 15 arranged at predetermined intervals for aligning and placing the caps 1 in a fixed orientation is erected so that it moves upward from within the storage section 11. The article alignment and supply device 10 also includes a cover panel section 18 that is provided in close proximity to and opposite the surface on which the rails 15 of the upwardly moving conveying belt 14 on the conveyor section 13 are provided, and an exit chute 19 (see Figures 2 and 3) that is disposed at a predetermined height position on one side of the conveyor section 13 that is covered by the cover panel section 18.

[0026] The storage unit 11 is connected to a hopper 12 for randomly supplying the caps 1 to the storage unit 11. The storage unit 11 may include the hopper 12.

[0027] The conveyor unit 13 includes a drive motor 16 for circulating the conveyor belt 14. The drive motor 16 includes, for example, a servo motor with a control mechanism capable of operating while repeatedly starting and stopping, an encoder, and a servo amplifier. The drive motor 16 may be configured with a stepping motor (pulse motor) instead of the servo motor. In addition, a side guide section 17 (see FIG. 2) is provided on one side of the transport belt 14 of the conveyor section 13. The side guide section 17 is provided at a location other than the position where the exit chute 19 is provided, and is made of a member for preventing the caps 1 from falling off the one side of the transport belt 14, such as a thin frame material.

[0028] The rails 15 provided on the conveyor belt 14 have a width approximately equal to the width of the conveyor belt 14, and are designed to have a depth (height) dimension that allows only caps 1 in a fixed orientation that have been scraped up from inside the storage section 11 to be placed on the rails. In other words, the rails are designed so that caps 1 in an orientation other than the fixed orientation will automatically fall from the rails 15 due to their own weight (weight balance). The fixed orientation of the caps 1 refers to a state in which the open end of the side portion of the cap 1 faces the front (the cover panel section 18 side). The interval between adjacent rails 15 is designed to be a predetermined interval, i.e., a dimension that allows the caps 1 to be placed in a line, for example, a dimension slightly larger than the diameter of the caps 1. The interval between adjacent rails 15 and the depth of the rails 15 are appropriately set according to the dimensions (diameter, height) of the caps 1 to be supplied.

[0029] The cover panel portion 18 is made of, for example, a transparent resin panel so that the transportation state of the cap 1 can be confirmed. The exit chute 19 functions as a cap transport path for sending out the caps 1 in the fixed direction from one side of the conveyor section 13 and supplying them to the next process.

[0030] Furthermore, the article aligning and supplying device 10 is provided with a first air blowing unit 20 that is provided at the height position of the exit chute 19 in the cover panel section 18, for sending the caps 1 on the rails 15 into the exit chute 19. The article aligning and supplying device 10 is also provided with a second air blowing unit 25 that is provided at the predetermined height position (the height position of the exit chute 19) on the other side of the conveyor section 13, and at a position lower than the predetermined height position, for moving the caps 1 on the rails 15 to one side of the conveyor section 13.

[0031] 1 to 4, the first air blowing section 20 includes an air blowing plate 21 attached to the cover panel section 18 at the same height as the outlet chute 19, a plate cover 22 attached to cover the air blowing plate 21, and an air nozzle 23 attached to the plate cover 22 for blowing air into a space formed between the air blowing plate 21 and the plate cover 22. The air nozzle 23 is connected to an air supply source (not shown). The air blowing plate 21 has a plurality of air blowing holes 21a formed in a plurality of rows and columns at an inclined angle (preferably 30° to 60°, more preferably 40° to 50°) toward one side of the conveyor section 13. The caps 1 on the crosspiece 15 that has moved up to the height position of the exit chute 19 are sent out to the exit chute 19 by the air blown from the plurality of air blowing holes 21a.

[0032] 2 and 3, the second air blowing section 25 includes four air nozzles 26 that blow air from one side to the other side of the conveyor section 13. Each air nozzle 26 is connected to an air supply source (not shown). The air blown from these four air nozzles 26 makes it possible to move the caps 1 placed on the rails 15 from the rail 15 at the height position of the exit chute 19 to the rails three levels below, to one side of the conveyor section 13. Note that the number of air nozzles 26 constituting the second air blowing section 25 is not limited to four, and the number can be changed appropriately depending on the specifications such as the width of the conveyor section 13 and the type of caps 1.

[0033] The article aligning and supplying device 10 also includes an article detection section 30 (see FIGS. 2 and 3) that detects the caps 1 on the rails 15 located at the height of the exit chute 19, and a control unit 40 that controls the operation of each part of the device. The control unit 40 functions as a drive control unit 41 that controls the drive of the conveyor belt 14 in accordance with the state of detection of the cap 1 on the rail 15 by the article detection unit 30 .

[0034] The item detection unit 30 is capable of detecting the presence or absence of a cap 1 on the rail 15 located at the height of the exit chute 19, and is composed of, for example, a photoelectric sensor, and is arranged in a position opposite the hole surface of the exit chute 19 (the surface of the hole through which the cap 1 passes). 2 and 3, a photoelectric sensor consisting of a light projector 31 and a light receiver 32 are disposed at the height of the exit chute 19, facing the hole surface of the exit chute 19 with the exit chute 19 and the conveyor belt 14 sandwiched therebetween. The light projector 31 employs, for example, pulse modulated light and is configured to repeatedly project light at a constant cycle.

[0035] The type of photoelectric sensor constituting the article detection unit 30 is not particularly limited. The article detection unit 30 may be constituted by a transmission type photoelectric sensor equipped with the above-mentioned light projector 31 and light receiver 32, a regression reflection type photoelectric sensor equipped with a light projector / receiver and a reflector, or a reflection type photoelectric sensor equipped with a light projector / receiver. Furthermore, the article detection unit 30 is not limited to the above-mentioned photoelectric sensor, and may be constituted by a laser sensor or fiber sensor, an image sensor equipped with an imaging unit, or various non-contact type article detection sensors.

[0036] When the object detector 30 detects that there is no cap 1 on the crosspiece 15, the drive controller 41 performs intermittent drive control to move the conveyor belt 14 upward by an amount equivalent to the pitch (predetermined interval) of the crosspiece 15. In other words, the drive controller 41 functions as a programmable controller that outputs a drive command signal to the drive motor 16.

[0037] FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of a control system in the article aligning and supplying device 10 according to the embodiment. The control unit 40 is configured as a computer device including a CPU, a ROM, a RAM, an input interface, an output interface, a communication interface, and a power supply (none of which are shown), and is configured to include the functions of a drive control unit 41. The article detection section 30 is connected to a drive control section 41 of the control unit 40, and a detection (presence or absence) signal of the cap 1 detected by the article detection section 30 is input to the drive control section 41.

[0038] The operation section 35 is connected to the control unit 40 , and various data that are input and set via the operation section 35 are input to the control unit 40 . The control unit 40 is connected to the first air blowing section 20 and the second air blowing section 25, and is configured to be able to control the air blowing operations of the first air blowing section 20 and the second air blowing section 25 based on a control signal output from the control unit 40.

[0039] The drive control section 41 of the control unit 40 is connected to the drive motor 16, and the intermittent drive control of the conveyor belt 14 by the drive motor 16 is performed based on a drive command signal (start, stop signal) output from the drive control section 41.

[0040] The air blowing operation by the first air blowing section 20 and the second air blowing section 25 may be an operation of continuously blowing a constant amount of air, or may be an operation of intermittently blowing air in conjunction with the intermittent drive control of the conveyor belt 14.

[0041] 6 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation control of the conveyor unit 13 performed by the drive control unit 41 of the article aligning and supplying device 10 according to the embodiment. This processing operation is started after the start switch of the device is turned on via the operation unit 35, and is repeatedly executed until the device is stopped.

[0042] In step S1, the drive control unit 41 transmits an intermittent drive command signal to the drive motor 16 to move the conveyor belt 14 upward by a predetermined interval (the interval between adjacent bars 15), performs intermittent drive control to move the conveyor belt 14 upward by the predetermined interval, and then proceeds to step S2. Step S1 is a drive control process.

[0043] In step S2, a signal is received from the article detection unit 30 provided at the height of the exit chute 19, and in the next step S3, it is determined whether or not there is a cap 1 on the rail 15 located at the height of the exit chute 19. Steps S2 and S3 constitute the article detection process.

[0044] In addition, the state where there are no caps 1 on the rail 15 includes a state where there are no caps 1 placed on the rail 15 at all when the rail 15 has moved up to the height position of the exit chute 19, and a state where one or more caps 1 placed on the rail 15 have all been sent into the exit chute 19 after the rail 15 has moved up to the height position of the exit chute 19.

[0045] If it is determined in step S3 that the cap 1 is not absent from the crosspiece 15 (i.e., that the cap 1 is present), the process returns to step S2, where a signal is acquired from the object detection unit 30, and then the process proceeds to step S3 and is repeated.

[0046] On the other hand, if it is determined in step S3 that the cap 1 is not present, the process returns to step S1, and an intermittent drive command signal is output to the drive motor 16 to move the conveyor belt 14 upward by a predetermined interval (the interval between adjacent bars 15), and then the process proceeds to step S2 and is repeated. The air blowing operation by the first air blowing section 20 and the second air blowing section 25 may be an operation of continuously blowing a fixed amount of air after the start switch is turned ON, or may be an operation of intermittently blowing air in conjunction with the intermittent drive control of the conveyor belt 14.

[0047] FIG. 7 is a partial front view showing one scene of the article supplying operation of the article aligning and supplying device 10 according to the embodiment. As illustrated in Figure 7, with the article alignment and supply device 10, even if a large number of caps 1 remain loaded on the rails 15 with little space between them, the above-mentioned steps S2 and S3 are repeatedly executed until all of the caps 1 have been sent into the exit chute 19, and when all of the caps 1 have been sent into the exit chute 19, the process returns to step S1, thereby making it possible to prevent the caps 1 from overflowing or clogging the exit chute 19.

[0048] Furthermore, when only a small number of caps 1 are placed on the crosspiece 15, the time required to send all of the caps 1 to the exit chute 19 is shorter than when a large number of caps 1 are placed. Even if only a small number of caps 1 remain on the crosspiece 15, the process returns to step S1 when all of the caps 1 have been sent to the exit chute 19, so that the time interval between intermittent drives can be shortened and a decrease in the supply amount of caps 1 can be prevented.

[0049] According to the embodiment of the item alignment and supply device 10 described above, the cap 1 on the rail 15 located at the height of the exit chute 19 is sent into the exit chute 19 by the air blowing action of the first air blowing section 20, and when the item detection section 30 detects that there is no cap 1 on the rail 15, the drive control section 41 performs intermittent drive control to move the conveying belt 14 upward by a predetermined interval (the interval between the rails 15).

[0050] Therefore, even if a large number of caps 1 remain on the crosspiece 15, all of the caps 1 on the crosspiece 15 are sent to the exit chute 19, and by moving the conveyor belt 14 upward by the specified interval when there are no caps 1 on the crosspiece 15, it is possible to reliably prevent the caps 1 from overflowing or clogging the exit chute 19.

[0051] Furthermore, even if a state in which only a small number of caps 1 are placed on the crosspiece 15 continues, all of the caps 1 on the crosspiece 15 are sent to the exit chute 19, and the conveying belt 14 is moved upward by the above-mentioned specified interval when there are no caps 1 on the crosspiece 15, thereby shortening the period of intermittent driving of the conveying belt 14 and reliably preventing a decrease in the amount of caps 1 supplied to the exit chute 19. Therefore, the stability of the operation of sending out the caps 1 from the outlet chute 19 and the supply capacity of the caps 1 can be more reliably improved.

[0052] Furthermore, according to the article aligning and supplying device 10, the article detection unit 30 (light projector 31, light receiver 32) is disposed at a position facing the hole surface of the exit chute 19, so it is possible to accurately detect the state in which all of the caps 1 on the crosspiece 15 at the height position of the exit chute 19 have been sent out from the exit chute 19. This makes it possible to more reliably prevent the caps 1 from overflowing or becoming clogged in the exit chute 19.

[0053] In addition, according to the article alignment and supply device 10, the second air blowing section 25 makes it possible to shift the caps 1 on the rails 15 to one side of the conveyor section 13 at a predetermined height position (the height position of the exit chute 19) on the other side of the conveyor section 13, and below that predetermined height position, allowing the caps 1 to be sent out from the exit chute 19 more smoothly and further improving the supply capacity of caps 1. The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications are possible, and it goes without saying that these modifications are also included within the scope of the present invention. [Explanation of symbols]

[0054] 1 Cap 10. Article alignment and supply device 11 Storage section 12 Hopper 13 Conveyor section 14 Conveyor belt 15. 16 Drive motor 17 Side guide part 18 Cover panel section 19 Exit Chute 20 First air blowing section 21 Air blowing plate 21a Air blowing hole 22 Plate cover 23 Air nozzle 25 Second air blowing section 26 Air nozzle 30 Item detection unit 31 Floodlight 32 Receiver 40 Control Unit 41 Drive control unit 100 Cap Alignment Device 101 Hopper 102 Crosspiece 103 Conveyor belt 104 Conveyor 105 Constant Speed ​​Motor 110 Cap injection section 111 Exit Chute 112 Chamber

Claims

1. A storage section for storing an item; a conveyor section in which a conveyor belt having bars at predetermined intervals for aligning and placing the articles in a fixed orientation is erected so as to move upward from within the storage section; a cover panel portion provided to cover and face closely a surface of the upwardly moving conveyor belt on which the rails are provided; an exit chute disposed at a predetermined height on one side of the conveyor section covered by the cover panel section, a first air blowing section provided at a height position of the exit chute in the cover panel section, for sending the article on the rail into the exit chute; an object detection unit that detects the object on the rail located at the height of the exit chute; a drive control unit that controls the drive of the conveyor belt in accordance with a detection state of the object on the rail by the object detection unit.

2. the object detection unit detects the presence or absence of the object on the rail located at the height of the exit chute, The article alignment and supply device according to claim 1, characterized in that the drive control unit performs intermittent drive control to move the conveyor belt upward by the predetermined interval when the article detection unit detects that the article is not on the bar.

3. 3. The article aligning and feeding device according to claim 1, wherein the article detector is disposed at a position opposite to a hole surface of the outlet chute.

4. The article alignment and supply device as described in claim 1 or claim 2, characterized in that it is provided with a second air blowing section at the specified height position on the other side of the conveyor section and / or at a position below the specified height position for shifting the articles on the rail to one side of the conveyor section.

5. A method for aligning and feeding articles using the article aligning and feeding apparatus according to claim 1, comprising the steps of: an article detection step of detecting the article on the rail located at the height of the exit chute with the article detection unit; a drive control step of controlling the drive of the conveyor belt in accordance with the detection state of the object on the rail by the object detection step.

6. the object detection step is a step of detecting the presence or absence of the object on the rail located at the height of the exit chute by the object detection unit, The article aligning and supplying method according to claim 5, characterized in that the drive control process is a process of performing intermittent drive control to move the conveyor belt upward by the predetermined interval when the article detection process detects that the article is not present on the bar.

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